--by Mason Seay Jazz music still floats throughout the streets and neighborhoods of Tacoma. While Jazzbones and Bob's Java Jive remain popular, The Spar Tavern is a hidden gem in Old Town. Let’s go back 110 years to 1916 when The Spar was built. The $7,500 building stands on the corner of North 30th Street... Continue Reading →
by Julie Barker On an especially wet and moody, quintessential Tacoma evening in November 2022, I fell in love in more ways than one. I was enrolled in a class at the University of Washington Tacoma titled Tacoma Music History. Ever the extra-credit enthusiast, I found myself climbing the Spanish Steps of the historic, recently... Continue Reading →
-- by Kim Davenport A few years back, I spent a good portion of my free time researching 'booster songs' about Tacoma, in preparation for a talk I gave in August of 2017. In the early decades of the 20th century, booster songs were published in cities around America as musical representations of civic pride.... Continue Reading →
-- by Kim Davenport For her final paper in my Musical History of Tacoma class this past Spring, UW Tacoma student Sunny Cada explored the vital role that music played in helping along the desegregation of the US military, specifically citing the example of musician Meltarrus Washington. Sergeant Meltarrus "Mel" Washington (1919-2007) came to Fort Lewis in... Continue Reading →
Tacoma Music History 